How to Study in College

Syllabus week is long past, and the professors are hitting you hard with your assignments. You may find yourself wondering how you are going to be able to retain the mountains of information that are being thrown at you on a daily basis, but do not fear, I may be able to help. Here are six tips to help you finish out the semester strong.

Tip #1 – Go to the library!

The library is a great resource that the school provides you, and many professors expect you to utilize the library for their classes. The library offers a quiet place to work and books full of information that will help you. Do not wait until your senior year to visit the library!

Tip #2 – Set aside a specific time to work.

As someone who will probably procrastinate giving birth and be late to my own funeral, this is the tip that has been most helpful to me in grad school. By setting aside time specifically to work on homework, you are taking a lot of pressure off yourself and your social life. You will never have to miss hanging out with your friends to cram in some last-minute studying if you already finished your work earlier in the day. If you have a break between classes, that is a perfect time to schedule a study session in the library.

Tip #3 – Review your notes before class meets again.

Your professors are going to expect you to be ready to go as soon as the clock strikes class time. If you review your notes beforehand, you are ready to ask any questions you may have, and the professor will not need to waste precious class time reviewing everything you were supposed to have ready. Instead, you can move on to covering new material.

Tip #4 – Make friends who will study with you.

Many young people (including me) do not particularly enjoy spending significant amounts of time inside working. A great way to motivate yourself to work and keep you accountable is by making studying into a social event, though this only works if you spend more time working than socializing. This is especially helpful if you can include some classmates. You can ask each other questions and you will never forget about an assignment again.

Tip #5 – Talk to your professors when you have questions.

I’ll be honest, this is not a tip I am very good at following. I’m not that great at asking for help, so I usually resign myself to figuring everything out on my own. However, this may be the most useful tip on the list for some of you. Your professors are there to help you. In fact, they are payed to help you, and not only that, but they are also the ones who taught you the material and wrote the tests. They know or can find out the answers to any questions you may have, and they want to help you.

Tip #6 – Pick tools that you enjoy using.

I know it isn’t the best reason to get work done, but I find that I am more motivated to work when I nice pens to write with and nice notebooks to write into. If you feel the same way, check out the tools I love to use when I am getting my school work done!

I absolutely love these pens. They are sleek and stylish while also functioning wonderfully. For my left-handed friends out there, the ink dries pretty quickly, so goodbye smudging! They also don’t bleed through notebook paper at all. They are a little pricey, so if you have a habit of losing pens, these may not be the pens for you. You can buy these pens here.

Like the Parker pens, these mechanical pencils look very professional. In fact, they look like pens. I love how sturdy they are – they are almost impossible to break, unlike some other mechanical pencils I have used in the past. Check out these pencils here.

This notebook helps me stay organized and save space in my backpack. All my notes for my classes are in one place, so I never forget to take anything to school. Having my notes all together also makes it easy to review between classes. You can buy this notebook here.

This is the planner I have been using to keep track of my busy schedule, and it continues to impress me. First, it is so pretty! The colors and layout make me want to write in it as much as I can. Second, it has a few nice extras, such as a space for notes at the end and a page dedicated to tracking your yearly goals. It is also the size of a notebook, which has been a growing need as my schedule is no longer limited to school assignments. You can look at this planner here.

There you have it, my dears. Happy studying! Learn new things and go out to be the amazing, powerful women I know you are!